If you've read any of our reviews on Warhammer Visions in the past you would have realised it can get pretty brutal - expectations so heinously dashed often get that kind of reaction - however in the past few months Warhammer Visions has started to take quite a different turn and become more about the product of the community rather than rehashed pictures or the never ending parade of Golden Demon entries from 4 years ago.The last few months have shown some really great armies from hobbyists of varying skill and levels of experience - just like us - we all vary in skill and experience and showing that in this big glossy magazine has to go some way to making the hobby potentially more accessible.This month for example, we have four reader armies, plus a readers showcase AND the Golden Demon: Space marine finalists - so that's a pretty good spread all up.So what else is in this issue and is it worth your time?​++ More After The Jump ++

The Latest Releases section this month is a bit of a mystery to me... this month saw the 30th Anniversary of the Space Marine, a new Imperial Knights game AND last week's flyers and Warhammer Visions basically give us page after page of Age of $igmar Orcs. Yes, we did get the same shots of the 30th Anniversary Marine as we have seen, but we all know there were others on display at Warhammer World - they were all over Twitter! There's also the flyers which were not just thrown together last week, and Imperial Knights? Hello, showing them is ALWAYS a good idea!Sorry, but this New Release section stinks of "buy me" and less of "check out this cool stuff".

In some actual real-deal exclusive content, get your eyes on the new Age of $igmar Realm of Battle board.This thing is awesome! Love those cogs and the shattered ground looks very cool.Mortgage the cat and prepare for some big brushes and a lot of flocking... I said FLOCKING! Far out... :)

Not a bad look at a few Forge World releases here that have been on the back burner. We have seen the Dark Fury Assault Squad and the... snipers with a silly name, but here they are with their Primarch in full flight. On the following page we also get to see the Alpha Legion Upgrade set which is very cool.

Army of the Month had a preview in last week's White Dwarf and blew me away.This is Jason Lee's amazing Salamanders army. The detail on these guys is truly excellent. Have a look at the paint jobs on the Sternguard. If you have Salamanders and would like some inspiration, look no further. This is flame paint jobs done well! Very much worth a look especially with the amount of space they dedicate to it. Good big photos - maybe a little over exposed in terms of photography, but the miniatures are well worth your time.

The second army this issue are Tom Harrison's heretical Cult Mechanicus. Using a white undercoat he uses layers of washes to get this really dusty faded sepia look. It works so well!

Golden Demon: Space Marines was held back in October 2015, and having a look at these models can only inspire. This spread is my favourite - the Ultramarines are just excellent with their Object Source Lighting making their armour shine. This Silver Skulls tank is amazing too. The weathering on it and the mix of matte and gloss finishes is really cool. Using red on the Silver Skulls had never occured to me, but Henry Steele hits this one out of the park!

Go with me on this for a minute.... I don't think Games Workshop has love for the Dark Angels!It's a big statement, but do they really get that much love? The last Codex was hella-boring and having a look at what is meant to be a detailed look at the Chapter reveals they really don't have that many miniatures of Dark Angels. This is the First Legion - yes tainted by a 'terrible secret' (the Terran Dark Angels were tired of being discriminated against so they kicked up a stink) - but they are the First Legion!! Come on, and with such cool iconography (lets forget the Native American era shall we) to show, why don't we have a more publicised Forge World Upgrade Set yet? It's out but we never see it, not even here...Where are the loving pages flowing with Successor Chapters? Not cool!

Tomb Kings - I miss you - and seeing this army might make more than a few people wonder why these miniatures were sent away. Tomb Kings had this very cool Egyptian/ Persian look and this army by Robin Cruddace is a gold-embossed juggernaut! With a really simple gold and red colour scheme, this is a great looking army. Sure the miniatures could do with new moulds, but Robin does a great job with them!

'Eavy Metal continues the showcase of Maxime Pastourel's amazing work. So clean, so moody! What a master - and with such varied subjects too!Reader's Models is also pretty varied this month. Not sure about the colour balance on some of these. We'd noticed that sometimes people's miniatures look better on their Twitter than in Warhammer Visions. Celso Mendez's Sons of Horus I saw online a while ago and think they look better there than in this issue. They are truly excellent Sons of Horus too!

It's a month for Mechanicum - you'd have to say one of the smartest moves Forge World ever made was releasing Mechanicum models - and this large collection from Ben Greaves is really impressive.He keeps the reds really RED while still making them weathered and aged. Love that War Hound!

Flyers are the flavour of the week (well not enough to make the New Releases section but there you go) at the moment. ​Well this section has some great looking flyers, these two being our favourite! That urban camouflage on the Valkyrie is amazing and the retro Korean War era Ork jet is just gorgeous! Making it look like a Cold War MiG is genius!! ++ I had a look at the Death From The Skies book today BTW - it's got some great pictures and guides to squadrons and aces - but for $90 AUD it was too rich for me ++

So apparently Dave Andrews is the mastermind of GW scenery - not a bad gig! Well he's designed this Age of $igmar board and it's got a lot of elements going on, that's for sure. There's even a backstory for it too.

James Ashbey - you win at yellow! Just putting it out there. Taking what is generally seen as a pretty boring Chapter and making them look this characterful and making the yellow so perfect - I worship at your altar!My first DIY Chapter were yellow and man was it a pain, but these look great! If you have Imperial Fists then have a look at these. Well worth it. Guarantee you take some ideas away with you.

The man himself, John Blanche pries open his dungeon and brings forth another sepia drenched warband and boy are they ugly... in a good way. Great use of parts and some really dirty pain jobs! If you're into rust and dirt and wear - this is for you. He's not everyone's cup of tea, but we here always like seeing hat he comes up with in the warped darkness of his mind!

I missed Paint Splatter last time (some would say that wasn't a bad thing) but here it is.... yellow Orcs and a red Maw-Krusha. Red can be a pain on large models, so if you're thinking of it, have a look at how it's done here as it's a pretty simple guide. Still not sold on yellow Orcs.

Verdict

Is Warhammer Visions all it could be? NO.Is this new direction they taking a good idea? For the hobby and community I would have to say YES.Showing people's forces is a great idea and frankly is some of, if not THE best content here.The Dark Angels section was very disappointing and that was not a New Releases section in my mind!However, if you have Salamanders, Imperial Fists or Mechanicum, then there are inspirational parts to this issue that you should at least glance at - but having them for future reference could only be a positive!

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In a time before 40k, there was a band of men and women who took part in gaming without the corporate sensibilities of today. Take a step back with us and also look upon the future through wizened eyes and curious ponderings of The Beardy Hammer!